Education

HND top-up not for every HND holder, NBTE clarifies

Published

10 months ago

August 29, 2023

HND top-up not for every HND holder, NBTE clarifies

The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) says the new online top-up programme for Higher National Diploma (HND) holders to acquire a Bachelor’s Degree for one year, with foreign accredited universities, is meant for the HND holders who want to pursue an academic career.

The NBTE Head of Media Unit, Hajiya Fatima Abubakar, offered the clarification in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.

Abubakar quoted the board’s Chief Executive, Prof. Idris Bugaje, saying the programme is not for all the HND holders but rather for those who have the ambition to further their career in an academic environment such as teaching and research in the Polytechnics or Universities.

”This top-up is an alternative to the Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) offered by Nigerian Universities.

”In a democracy such as ours, HND holders should be allowed to make a choice between PGD and the top-up to BSc,” he said.

He said the clarification came on the heels of misunderstandings about the programme in a section of the media.

According to him, the top-up is not bringing an end to HND programmes in Polytechnics but rather provides choice to HND holders wanting to go for an academic career.

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”The choice of starting it with foreign universities is to show its universal acceptability, the Nigerian universities may eventually buy into it in due course.

”The cost is reasonable, just about 10 per cent of what regular face-to-face students pay.

”NBTE has come up with the programme to enable interested Polytechnic HND holders to be at par with their counterparts with Bachelor’s degree holders.

”And make it easy for them to go for their Master’s and Doctorate degrees for those interested in pursuing their career in academics,” he said.

Bugaje, during the unveiling of the programme earlier this month, said the initiative would ease the suffering of HND holders in the country.

He said the board had to find an alternative route, which was for HND holders to do a one-year top up, in conjunction with some foreign universities.

”Presently there are many Ph.D. holders who academically progressed with HND through the PGD coming back to enrol for BSc (after their Ph.D.) in Nigerian universities, a very retrogressive step indeed.

“The HND qualification in itself represents something unique and this top-up shall be an encouragement for candidates to apply for

Polytechnic education since there is a pathway for progression into academics.

”This will never dilute the essence of technical education but rather enhance it,” he emphasised.

HND top-up not for every HND holder, NBTE clarifies

Education

FG fixes date to inaugurate governing councils of tertiary institutions

Published

1 day ago

July 1, 2024

Trends Admin

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

FG fixes date to inaugurate governing councils of tertiary institutions

The Federal Government has scheduled the inauguration of Governing Councils for Federal universities, polytechnics, and other tertiary institutions for July 4, 2024.

This announcement follows concerns raised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the composition of the newly formed councils, which ASUU President Prof Emmanuel Osodeke criticized for being predominantly comprised of retired politicians rather than academic experts or professionals in relevant fields.

The reconstitution of these councils and boards, approved by President Bola Tinubu, aims to enhance the management of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof. Aisha Maikudi, disclosed the inauguration date during her recent address assuming office.

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A total of 560 individuals have been appointed to these governing bodies across Federal Government-owned tertiary institutions. Notable appointments include Chief Bisi Akande as Chairman of the University of Ibadan’s council, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) at the University of Lagos, Isa Yuguda at the National Open University, and Siyan Oyeweso at Obafemi Awolowo University.

Additionally, Adebayo Shittu, Muiz Banire, and Senator Florence Ita Giwa were appointed chairpersons of governing boards for specific institutions like David Umahi University of Medicine, Federal University of Transportation in Katsina, and Federal Polytechnic in Ugep, Cross River State, respectively.

FG fixes date to inaugurate governing councils of tertiary institutions

Education

ASUU of ABSU gives Abia govt two-week strike notice

Published

3 days ago

June 30, 2024

Trends Admin

ASUU of ABSU gives Abia govt two-week strike notice

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Abia State University (ABSU) branch has given the Abia State Government a two-week ultimatum to address its demands for improved welfare among others.

It threatened to shut down academic activities if its demands were not met.

During a press conference at Abia State University, Uturu, on Friday, Mrs. Happiness Uduk, ASUU’s Zonal Coordinator for the Calabar Zone, stressed the urgency of these demands.

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Uduk highlighted the government’s failure to fulfill commitments under the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement, which has led to stagnant salary scales and minimal welfare improvements over the past 15 years.

“ASUU members have been on the same salary scale for 15 years without any change. We urge the government to complete the negotiations initiated over 13 years ago, considering current economic realities such as inflation and exchange rates,” Uduk stated.

ASUU of ABSU gives Abia govt two-week strike notice

Education

JUST IN: JAMB releases UTME supplementary results

Published

5 days ago

June 28, 2024

Trends Admin

JUST IN: JAMB releases UTME supplementary results

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board has released the results of candidates who participated in the supplementary Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination conducted between June 21 and 22, 2024.

This board’s spokesperson, Dr Fabian Benjamin, stated this in a statement in Abuja on Friday.

According to JAMB, 28,835 applicants who were not able to provide biometric verification during the main 2024 UTME took the supplementary exam.

In a similar vein, the board stated that students who were given a second opportunity to take the exam but were suspected of engaging in examination misconduct during the main UTME comprised the other category of candidates.

“The exercise, which recorded a huge success nationwide, was marked by heightened security measures put in place by the board to preclude any instance of examination infractions.

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“As such, some nefarious characters who had attempted to impersonate bona fide candidates were apprehended and handed over to law enforcement agencies for further investigation and prosecution,” the board noted.

It said it will continue to ensure that no candidate benefits from any acts of infractions through the deployment of state-of-the-art technology before, during, and after its examinations.

JAMB, therefore, urged candidates, in their interest, to refrain from engaging in any form of irregularity during their examinations.

The board also prohibited applicants from soliciting score upgrades from fraudsters or mutilating their result sheets to manufacture fraudulent result sheets with higher scores.

It also advised candidates to check their supplementary UTME results by texting UTMERESULT to either 55019 or 66019, using the same phone number they used to obtain their profile codes at the start of registration.